Real Estate Matters | How the Chinese New Year affects the real estate market

Sam Lee

The real estate market is just that – a marketplace. Sometimes there are lots of people and hustle and bustle and you see many goods and money switching hands, while at other times the opposite is true. So how does the Chinese New Year affect the real estate market?

The short answer is that it generally slows it down, but with different implications for various parties. During the holidays, most of the players in the market are focused on the festivities and their families, and temporarily stop participating in the marketplace. This applies across the board to sellers, buyers, tenants and agents.

However, there are always prospective tenants who procrastinated on viewing properties over Christmas and the New Year period, and suddenly find that Chinese New Year has rolled around already as well! They might be feeling a sense of urgency and frustration because even if they try to view properties and put out offers they might find that they don’t get a response until after Chinese New Year. If they really want to get somebody’s attention quickly, they will most likely have to put out an offer above the going market rate.

Of course, this can happen to landlords looking to rent their property as well. In their case, if they want to rent quickly, they might have to lower their asking price below the market rate. This means that for those with an opportunistic sense, they will keep a keen eye on the market for any good deals that might come up with the deposit in hand.

In an ideal world these two parties would find each other and come to an agreement with a spectacular “Kung Hei Fat Choi!” moment to finish things off. But of course there is no guaranteeing that the supply and demand will match –
or more tragically, maybe the deal just wasn’t written in the stars and the tenant walks straight past the agency where the landlord has listed his property like a scene in a Korean drama series. 

Generally speaking, we find that that the market picks up momentum starting March, with the rental market taking another stutter step during the summer holiday season.

JML Property was born on the year of the Dog back in 1994, so this year marks the third year of the Dog celebration for us. We would like to thank everybody who has supported us throughout the years and extend our best wishes to you in the year of the Dog. Oh and of course, Kung Hei Fat Choi!

JML Property and a property investor.

Having been established in 1994, JML Property offers investment property & homes. It specializes in managing properties for owners and investors, and providing attractive and comfortable homes for tenants.

www.JMLProperty.com

info@JMLProperty.com